Yuma on to Organ Pipe

On Tuesday, we had plans to eat a late lunch / early dinner with some of our Escapee Christian Fellowship friends who were in Yuma or nearby... so we decided to take a "long way" around and try to find an overlook location on a highway that I remembered from a previous visit...

... and we were able to find it! The crop land with different colors striping the landscape is so beautiful!

 

We forgot to get pictures with the Christian Fellowship group, but we enjoyed the buffet at Lin's Chinese Buffet restaurant. By getting there at 3:30pm, we were able to pay lunch prices and have access to supper entrees like grilled-to-order steaks.

On Wednesday, we were planning to leave Kofa Ko-Op, but had arranged for Robert's RV Wash to come to wash and wax Gracie. They arrived at about 8am...

There were three guys - they started by cleaning the roof...

... side benefit: they provided entertainment for our neighbor in the Ko-Op!

Hand waxing

They brought their own water -- the water here is quite hard.

Waxing all the way around.

While they were cleaning outside, we vacuumed the inside, including Miss Kitty! She doesn't mind being brushed with the brush end of the vacuum while it is running and maybe it saves a few hairs from being released into the air!

As soon as they were done, we got the slides in, jacks up, Jeep covered, and we were ready to leave.

As we were pulling out of the site, I noticed a painted rock which welcomed us to Kofa Ko-Op!

We had decided to head to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument -- east on I-8 and then south at Gila Bend on 85. We got fuel in Gila Bend... we didn't really need it yet, but since we'd be boondocking at Organ Pipe, we didn't want to be concerned about fuel.

We drove through the Barry M Goldwater Air Force Range, Ajo and Why, AZ, before getting to Organ Pipe National Monument. We had not been able to make a reservation (no sites available for the time we would be there), but there were a number of First Come, First Served sites, so we were hopeful to find one. Unfortunately, due to COVID, about half of the sites are closed, and there are only a few sites that hold up to a 40' rig, like Gracie, in the campground. I had made a list of the sites that are FCFS and would accommodate up to a 40' rig... we were driving down the primary row where they were located, and all were either occupied, or had a "one night only" sign on them (I guess they were reservable, but not available for all the nights we had wanted). Finally, the *last* FCFS site that could fit a 40' rig was *empty* and available!!! Carl got out and watched as he directed me into the site, being very careful as there are bushes that could scratch the sides on each side of the entry into the site.

It is a lovely site...

... there are desert plants between us and neighbors.

The sites are plenty big for longer rigs, but the roads and corners are very tight.

But Gracie is well suited for the site and the site is well suited for Gracie!

We went up on the roof and put the solar panels up on a tilt to get all the sun we can -- generator hours are limited to 8-10am and 4-6pm, so we want to do as much battery charging from the sun as we can.

.. some views from the roof...

... this is a relatively large campground -- normally 208 sites, but about half available now because of COVID (I'm not certain *why* COVID is causing sites to be closed, maybe due to lack of ability to have all the bathroom facilities open and disinfected).

So pretty!

We are looking forward to about 5 days here, hiking and driving around in this beautiful area. We are so blessed to be able to do this!